Wonder Boys host SOSU todayThe Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys will look for their fourth consecutive victory today, hosting Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. in Tucker Coliseum. The Wonder Boys then continue Great American Conference play on Saturday, hosting East Central at 3 p.m. Follow The Action Live audio, video, and statistics for both games are available at www.arkansastechsports.com. The games will be carried live on 102.3-FM (KCJC) in Russellville, with Sam S...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Golden Suns open 2017 play todayThe Arkansas Tech Golden Suns open the 2017 half of the season today, hosting Southeastern Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m. The Golden Suns will then continue its Great American Conference schedule with a Saturday contest against East Central at 1 p.m. Both games will be played in Tucker Coliseum. Follow The Action Live audio, video, and statistics for both games are available at www.arkansastechsports.com. The games will be carried live on 102.3-F...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Cyclones open conference with winIt took every second, but the Russellville Lady Cyclones snagged their 6A/5A-West Conference opener by a score of 40-39 over the Clarksville Lady Panthers on Tuesday inside Cyclone Arena. After trailing through the first three quarters, Clarksville took a 37-25 lead on a 3-pointer by K.J. Williamson with 6:25 left in the game. Russellville tied the score three times before finally taking a 38-27 lead with 22.9 left in the game on a layup from ...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Lizards lose twoBY TRAVIS SIMPSON sports@couriernews.com BERRYVILL -- The Dardanelle Lady Sand Lizards competed in the Cornerstone Bank Holiday Tournament Dec. 28-30, where they lost to host Berryville 52-25, defeated Green Forest 53-19 and lost to Bald Knob 74-37. Against Berryville, Dardanelle trailed 14-2 after the first quarter and 32-7 at halftime. After the third quarter, the Lady Sand Lizards were down 51-14. In that game, Berryville was led by Jeaness...

Wildcats advance in NACC tourneyCourier sports staff HARRISON -- The Hector Lady Wildcats hurried past the Alpena Lady Leopards 64-41 on Monday in the first round of the North Arkansas Community College Tournament. Hector led 18-13 after the first quarter and 33-22 at halftime. After the third quarter, the Lady Wildcats were up 58-31. Cassidy Haley led everyone in scoring with 18 points, followed by Paige Lee with 16 points and Darci Fountain with 10 points. Evelyn Riley and...

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Courier sports staffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Whirlwinds compete in Van Buren tournamentVAN BUREN -- The Russellville Lady Whirlwinds won the consolation bracket of the Van Buren Tournament after falling 53-19 to the Fayetteville Junior Lady Bulldogs in the first round of the tournament. "Some would say we got a bad draw, but I'm glad we got to play a team like that," Russellville head coach Chase White said. "As a coach, you want to win as many games as possible, but in nonconference games, we want to play the best teams around....

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Tech's Bennie Lufile grabs GAC Player of Week with reboundsATU Athletic Communications After setting the Arkansas Tech and Great American Conference record for rebounds in a game, Bennie Lufile was named GAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Lufile recorded the first 20-rebound performance in school and conference history, breaking David Bevis' Tech record of 19 rebounds from 1995. Lufile and the Wonder Boys earned their sixth win of the season on Saturday, defeating Missouri S&T, 91-88, in overtim...

2017 is a new year to be 'elite'As we turn the page on 2016 and look forward to 2017, I am reminded that we have so many things to look forward to each year in the Arkansas River Valley. As 2017 starts, I would like to wish good health and good fortune to all of our readers in the coming year. New beginnings are great for everyone and 2017 has the feeling of being an "elite" type of year! First, as we all know, we are blessed with one of the top fisheries in the country and ...

Bowfisherman sets new shortnose gar recordWARD -- Bryson Harpole of Ward didn't only set a new bar for shortnose gar in Arkansas's fishing records on Nov. 1, 2016; he crushed the old record for unrestricted tackle. His bowfishing catch from Cypress Bayou WMA weighed an impressive 11 pounds, 12 ounces and measured over a yard long at 36.8 inches. The previous record, held by Robert Perkins of Conway and taken in Craig D. Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir in 1998 was 6 pounds, 12 ounces. "...

Lady Apaches fall to CabotA 12-0 scoring surge by the Cabot Lady Panthers turned a 34-33 halftime deficit into a 67-57 loss for the Pottsville Lady Apaches in the Hoops 4 Hunger tournament Friday inside Cyclone Arena. After both teams were tied 5-5, Cabot (11-2) reeled off 11 unanswered points after a 3-pointer by Maggie Bush. Pottsville (11-5) was held scoreless for nearly three and a half minutes before snapping the streak with 8:42 to go in the first half. The Lady ...

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Courier staff reportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Cyclones finish fourth with loss to JA FairThe Russellville Cyclones had success in slowing down the pace of Friday's Hoops 4 Hunger third-place game in the first half. But Kyron Gilbert and the JA Fair War Eagles were able to defeat Russellville 50-44 inside Cyclone Arena. Russellville (2-8) managed to tie the game each time the War Eagles (8-4) got ahead by a basket or free throws. After the Cyclones led 7-4, Ryan Talley tied the score 11-11 and 13-13 and scored nine points. Bowen Ma...

Panthers rally falls short, CAC holds for 73-67 winThe Clarksville Panthers trailed 46-15 with 10:33 to go in the second half, but rallied and closed within four points of the Central Arkansas Christian Mustangs, who came away with a 73-67 win Friday in the Hoops 4 Hunger basketball tournament fifth-place game. CAC (4-6) opened the game with a 17-4 lead and led 38-13 at halftime. Kam Vick's 3-pointer gave the Mustangs their 46-15 advantage. But Clarksville (2-10) got back in the game courtesy ...

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Courier staff reportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Cyclones beat Lady Panthers to finish fifthThe Russellville Lady Cyclones held off a late charge by the Clarksville Lady Panthers to claim fifth place in the Hoops 4 Hunger basketball tournament with a 53-44 victory Friday inside Cyclone Arena. Russellville (6-7) was up 35-20 before Clarksville (8-4) went on a 12-0 run behind four 3-pointers by Megan Dougan and Samantha Childers. The Lady Panthers eventually cut the lead to two, 42-40, on another 3-point basket by Dougan. But a Bailey ...

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Courier staff reportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Apaches defeat CyclonesThe Pottsville Apaches led by five points at halftime and didn't let the Russellville Cyclones score until four minutes into the second half in Thursday night's 58-48 Pottsville win over Russellville in the Hoops 4 Hunger tournament game inside Cyclone Stadium. Pottsville (11-3) will play Cabot in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. today. Russellville (2-7) will play for third place against JA Fair at 4:30. Wesley Heikes hit a 3-pointer to giv...

Lady Panthers get by Mabank in OTMegan Payne hit a turnaround jumper and free throw with 15.2 seconds left and held Mabank (Texas) scoreless for the rest of overtime as the Clarksville Lady Panthers advanced 57-55 in the Hoops 4 Hunger Tournament inside Cyclone Arena on Thursday. Clarksville will face the Russellville Lady Cyclones at noon today in the fifth-place contest. Clarksville opened the game with a 9-2 lead and extended its advantage to 19-5 with 8:26 to go in the fi...

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Courier staff reportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Cyclones rout JA FairThe Lady Cyclones (5-7) scored the game's first 10 straight points and never looked back as they advanced to the fifth-place game of the Hoops 4 Hunger basketball tournament Thursday inside Cyclone Arena. Eight of those points were layups, as JA Fair (1-9) suffered 11 turnovers in the first eight minutes. Thirteen Lady Cyclones got on the scoring column, and JA Fair suffered 24 turnovers in the game. Russellville led 39-14 at halftime. With 8:...

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Courier staff reportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Apaches pummel Mustangs, 61-37The Pottsville Apaches were too much for the Central Arkansas Christian Mustangs in the first round of the 2016 Holiday Hoops for Hunger tournament inside Cyclone Arena. Wesley Heikes scored 19 points as he led the Apaches to a 61-37 win over the Mustangs. Pottsville took a 30-20 halftime lead over Central Arkansas Christian. Bryce Prince opened the scoring. The Mustangs tied the score, but Jacob Chisum got a three-point play, followed by a bu...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Cyclones snap skid, defeat GreenbrierBryson George's buzzer-beater lifted the Russellville Cyclones to a 46-44 victory over the Greenbrier Panthers on Wednesday in the first round of the 2016 Holiday Hoops for Hunger tournament inside Cyclone Arena. George hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left in the game to tie the score 44-44, and following a missed shot by the Panthers, George took it to the hoop as time expired. The win snapped a six-game losing streak by the Cyclone...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Clarksville swept away by CabotClarksville Lady Panthers' guard Grace Dougan hit a 3-pointer from nearly half court to send the game into overtime, but Clarksville fell short, 53-50, to the Cabot Lady Panthers in the first game of the 2016 Holiday Hoops for Hunger tournament inside Cyclone Arena. It took two overtimes, but Holly Allen put Cabot up 53-50 with 15 seconds left in the game from the charity stripe. Clarksville battled under its net in the final moments but saw i...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
sports@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley